


Character growth in Pride and Prejudice and in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries

by anonsally



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Essays, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 20:26:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5679601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonsally/pseuds/anonsally
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Essay about the adaptation choices regarding the growth undergone by various characters.<br/>(originally posted on Tumblr on 6 April 2013)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Character growth in Pride and Prejudice and in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries

As we all know, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries was an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Some of the choices the Lizzie Bennet Diaries team made were what I would call faithful adaptations, while others were what I consider departures from the book. For example, turning Mr. Collins’ proposal of marriage into a business proposal was an adaptation of the story, and one that felt completely faithful to the spirit of the book. I personally feel the same way about Lydia’s scandal being a sex tape instead of an elopement.

By contrast, Lizzie believing that Caroline was truly her friend was a departure from the book. It made sense for this adaptation, and was the first thing to draw attention to the importance of who knows about and watches the videos and who doesn’t. However (and this is not a criticism), it was nevertheless a departure from the source material, where Elizabeth saw right through Caroline.

The biggest departure from the source material, in my opinion, has to do with character growth. In P&P, Elizabeth and Darcy are the only two characters who really grow–or at least, the only two whose growth the reader gets to see. These two bring out one another’s worst, at first, and then bring out one another’s best. Each one teaches the other to be a better person. Much has been written about this and I am sure anyone reading this post is aware of that aspect of the story, but my point is that none of the other characters get this opportunity. That fact is an important part of the structure of the book because it throws into relief the development of the protagonist and her eventual love interest.

For example, in P&P, Jane has always been sweet, kind, loyal, and incapable of thinking badly of anyone. She remains this way even when a man she loves who seemed to love her back suddenly leaves. When he comes back, all is immediately forgiven. The only change detectable is in this paragraph from chapter 60:

> Miss Bingley’s congratulations to her brother, on his approaching marriage, were all that was affectionate and insincere. She wrote even to Jane on the occasion, to express her delight, and repeat all her former professions of regard. Jane was not deceived, but she was affected; and though feeling no reliance on her, could not help writing her a much kinder answer than she knew was deserved.

Her behavior does not change even if her willingness to trust does. Meanwhile, Elizabeth notes that Bingley is still guided by his friend at the end. However, she finds this amusing rather than irritating now that Darcy has used his influence to bring Bingley back to her sister.

Lydia is “untamed, unabashed, wild, noisy, and fearless”, even after her elopement. She is so oblivious that she does not even recognize the danger she was in of Wickham not marrying her. Her ignorance precludes her growth.

In the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, we still get the glorious, beautiful, satisfying growth of Lizzie and of Darcy, and their romantic ending. But we get more than that: New Jane does not take Bing back without making clear that she has plans for her career and life and that she wants him to have something besides her in New York. Bing makes a decision so major that his sister can’t believe he came to it without being manipulated by someone else.

However, the biggest departure from the source material is in Lydia’s arc. Instead of being shackled for life to a man who does not respect or love her and whose finances will always be in disarray, she is heartbroken but with the capacity to learn and grow and find a more confident way to be. Her relationship with Lizzie is transforming, and will give her a stronger base of support than she had before. Her loud, attention-seeking, immature behavior of earlier is now tempered with more self-awareness and more authenticity. It’s clear that she had issues of trust with men beforehand, and that may have been exacerbated by what happened with George, but I know she is going to recover beautifully.

(Indeed, while I tried to distinguish above between choices that were faithful adaptations and choices that were actually departures from the source material, this is a great example of a specific departure from the source material fitting into the larger work of adaptation. Two female characters who married during the book ended up single at the end of the series: Charlotte and Lydia. In a modern setting, this makes sense; in Jane Austen’s time, it wouldn’t have worked.)

So I think the LBD team really accomplished something special: several characters Austen considered static archetypes were instead given the opportunity to be real, complex people who develop and respond to their experiences in realistic, believable ways. To me, this is the biggest departure from the book, and the riskiest. It has definitely been praised by many, but many viewers either wanted MORE of it (more details about Jane and Bing, for example, or another video from Lydia reclaiming her vlog) or disagreed with the ways in which those departures played out (“Lydia should have had more agency or directed her anger at George instead of herself!”). Still, I think given the constraints of the medium and of the real time unfolding of the story, they made more of the characters three-dimensional, believable, and likeable than Austen did, and showed us as much as they could of their stories.


End file.
